Fish linked to North Korean guards' diarrhea declining in value

Kim Jong Un's upcoming birthday on Sunday has been designated as
the "most significant" holiday of 2017, sources in the country say. The
occasion will be marked by state distributions of fish, according to
Radio Free Asia. File Photo by Rodong Sinmun

The price of a type of fish that may have been the cause for a diarrhea outbreak among North Korean border guards is taking a dive, according to sources in the country.

Prices are plunging because of rumors leader Kim Jong Un
is expected to give out Japanese sandfish as gifts to the people on the
occasion of his birthday, Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday.

It would not be the first time the North Korean leader has given the commercially important fish as a state-sanctioned present.

In December, a diarrhea outbreak that North
Korean soldiers cynically described as a "gift from Kim Jong Un" was
likely caused by a free supply of spoiled Japanese sandfish, sources in
the country have said.

Kim's birthday is Jan. 8, but already prices of the fish have decreased dramatically, according to RFA.

Prices have surprisingly declined in areas like Yanggang Province, where seafood is often sold at a premium, one source said.

"As soon as the central authorities decreed
Kim Jong Un's birthday as the nation's most significant holiday of the
year, the price of Japanese sandfish suddenly fell," a source in the
province said, adding the market was reacting to the rumor of free
provisions.

A second source in the province told RFA North
Korean fish vendors are worried they will suffer losses after
purchasing the fish at a higher price.

Some vendors are opting to give up on selling the fish and drying it to preserve as food.

The source added the greatest beneficiaries of
the fall in prices are "Chinese traders" who can "purchase all the fish
at a low price" in North Korea then resell the goods in China.